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Opening Story
flash sequence. Sigma is captured by Zero SIGMA Hnn.. Aagh.. ..Ow... Ow ow ow ow ow..! Damnit.. feels like my head's gonna explode. Wait.. Where the hell am I? Looks like an elevator, but... GIRL Isn't that obvious? SIGMA Gah!.. Who the hell are you? GIRL ... SIGMA Um.. Hello? GIRL ... SIGMA Right. Okay. Let's try a different tack here.. Where the hell are we? Also, while we're at it, why? GIRL ... SIGMA No response? You always this friendly, or did I kick you while I was sleeping? tries pressing the buttons on the elevator Damn.. No luck there either, huh. GIRL I'm plenty friendly. SIGMA What? GIRL I said I'm plenty friendly. SIGMA Hey, looks like you can talk after all. So! Let's try this again. Where.. are.. we..? GIRL Dunno. SIGMA Hm. Well, could be worse, I guess. You could have said, "actually, we're stuck in a booby-trapped elevator in the bowels of a top-secret government facility where they conduct grotesque human experiments." GIRL ... SIGMA ... Right. Back to the first question, then. Who are you? By which I mean, what's your name? GIRL ... ... Sigma. SIGMA Cute. That's my name. I'm asking you what-- ... ... Wait a second.. how do you know my name? I haven't met you before, have I? GIRL No, you haven't. I don't have any idea who you are. But.. SIGMA But what? How could you know my name if you don't have any idea who I am? GIRL How the hell am I supposed to know? I just.. know it, okay?! SIGMA H-Hey.. no need to bite my head off. It's just, you're not really making sense here. And you still haven't told me who you are. GIRL Shut up! Just back off, grandpa! SIGMA G-Grandpa?.. GIRL Look, I just don't know, all right? It's just kind of.. there. Like.. I looked at you.. .. And some part of my brain just said, "That's Sigma." SIGMA Hold on a second--! GIRL What do you think this thing is? the bracelet on her wrist SIGMA Huh? GIRL This bracelet. See? You've got one too. They're pretty much identical. SIGMA Y-Yeah.. yeah, you're right. Where'd they come from? GIRL It was on already when I woke up. Haven't figured out what it's for yet, though. SIGMA Well.. doesn't seem like it's a watch, does it? GIRL No. It's just got a 3 and the word "pair"> SIGMA Hnnngh... Gah.. GIRL What are you doing? SIGMA Trying to get it off. GIRL Good luck. I spent a while trying to get mine off while you were napping. It's on pretty tight. Doesn't even have a clasp or anything. SIGMA What about these buttons on the sides? GIRL I pressed 'um, but nothing happened. Not even a beep. tries pressing the buttons SIGMA Hmm... yeah, you're right. Nothing. Dammit! What the hell is going on here? Somebody better start explaining, or-- GIRL Hey, look. SIGMA What? GIRL There's something on that screen over there. SIGMA Wait.. what? appears on the internal screen display ZERO How're you feeling? I am Zero III! The king of this kingdom. SIGMA Wha.. what the hell is that? GIRL A rat? SIGMA Uh, no. Pretty sure it's a rabbit. ZERO I'm sure you've got looooots of questions! It just seems silly to have a big old chit-chat right now, sooooo... I'm gonna give you a game to play! SIGMA A game? ZERO Yes yes yes! And I'm calling it.. The NONARY GAAAAAAAAAME! AMBIDEX EDITIOOOOOON! SIGMA ... GIRL ... ZERO There's more to it! Lots more! But if I told you now, that'd be cheating. So hurry up and get out! I'll be waaaiting! SIGMA H-Hey, hold on! Who the hell-- ZERO Oh, right! I forgot to tell you the most. Important. Thing. This elevator you're in.. It's gonna fall in a few minutes. Waaaaaay down. SIGMA F-Fall?! ZERO Yes indeedy! So you'd better get moving! I'll see you later. Have a nice trick! SIGMA Yeah, yeah, see you next fall. That joke wasn't any funnier in elementary school.. GIRL Ooh.. I get it. Trip and trick, huh? SIGMA Don't tell me you're impressed? Oh for the love of.. GIRL ... ... SIGMA Damnit.. damnit! Goddamnit! This is bullshit! That stupid rabbit didn't tell us anything! How are we even supposed to get out of here? ... Ah well. I guess whining about it isn't going to help anybody. We won't be able to get any answers if we can't get out of here. You with me? C'mon, just nod or something. GIRL I don't want to die here any more than you. Let's go. Elevator escape SIGMA All right, it's open. Now let's get the hell out of here. GIRL ... ... SIGMA What? What's wrong? GIRL ... ... SIGMA Oh yeah.. Guess it's a little high for you, huh? I'd say that's at least six feet, maybe more. All right, then. Climb up on my shoulders. GIRL Your.. shoulders. SIGMA Yeah, that's right. Why, something wrong? GIRL ... SIGMA Wh-what? What's that look supposed to mean? What do you think I'm gonna do? GIRL ... SIGMA Oh come on! I'm just trying to be rational here. No ulterior motive, hand to God. Not like I'm hoping to get my face sandwiched between a girl's bare thighs or--- GIRL I knew it! You sick bastard! SIGMA I.. I was just kidding. GIRL ... SIGMA ...Right. Look, I'm just trying to get us out of here. You got any brilliant ideas that don't involve your thighs? GIRL ... Fine. On your knees. SIGMA .. What? GIRL You're a little tall for me to just jump up on your shoulders. And I'm certainly not going to give you the satisfaction of making me climb. So, kneel. SIGMA Oh.. Okay. .. There. Ready! Bring it on! GIRL Heh. Thanks. A little step up is just what I needed. SIGMA What?! Wait, what are you going to do..? GIRL Quiet. Here.. we.. go! SIGMA ! Sh-she can fly?! How in the hell.. ... GIRL All right, give me your hand. SIGMA What? Oh.. uh. ... What the heck are you? GIRL Well, I'm not Superman, that's for sure. And I'm not Batman, or Spiderman, or Aquaman, or a merman, or a wolfman. I'm not a brahman, or common, or ramen. I'm not a caiman either, so you don't really need to worry about anything. SIGMA ... GIRL My name is Phi. I guess you could say.. I am no man. SIGMA ... PHI Just come on! One of these days, Witch-King.. pulls SIGMA through the hatch in the ceiling SIGMA Whoa.. what's up with this place? PHI It sure doesn't look like an elevator shaft. Some kind of warehouse, maybe. Or a hangar.. SIGMA So we were in an elevator that doesn't.. elevate. PHI Yea. It wasn't going to go anywhere.. SIGMA When that rabbit said it was gonna fall, he was just screwing with us? PHI So it would seem. SIGMA Then why..? PHI Forget it. Look. More people. Looks like an old guy, a young man.. Two girls, and.. .. A kid? They're all wearing bracelets. Probably safe to assume they're trapped here too. SIGMA Right, well, let's go say hi, then! runs over to the others SIGMA *Pant* *Pant* *Pant* Hey! Hey there! Any of you guys know what the hell's going on here? WOMAN A No, we don't. I haven't been out here much longer than you. OLD MAN They grabbed you too, huh? SIGMA ...Grabbed...? to opening sequence Oh.. yeah.. I got in my car.. I went to start the engine and then there was this white smoke.. WOMAN B I think we all shared that particular experience. The smoke seems to be some kind of general anaesthetic. When I woke up, I was in one of these "elevators". SIGMA All five of you were in one elevator? YOUNG BOY No. Mr. Dio and I were in the same elevator, but.. SIGMA Wait. Which one of you is Dio? DIO That would be me. This little guy here is Quark. QUARK Nice to meet you, Mister. SIGMA Uh, right, nice to meet you too. So.. what about the rest of you? DIO Tenmyouji, Alice, and Luna all woke up in different elevators. Correct me if I'm wrong.. OLD MAN No, you've ot it right. SIGMA So.. you'd be Tenmyouji then, right? TENMYOUJI Yup. SIGMA And Alice is..? ALICE Me. She's Luna. LUNA H-H-Hello! It's very nice to meet you! SIGMA Um.. Hey.. Nice to meet you too.. (What's she so nervous about?) DIO And you are..? SIGMA Right. Uh, I'm Sigma.. And this bundle of laughs is Phi. Good to meet you all, I guess. PHI Say. That. Again. SIGMA And this malnourished harpy is Phi. Better? PHI Bastard... DIO ... ... Um, are you two.. SIGMA Ha! Not likely. That elevator was the first time we'd seen each other. I.. think.. DIO You think? SIGMA Uh, never mind. Forget I said anything. We met, just now, in that elevator. That's the truth. TENMYOUJI Can I see your bracelet there? SIGMA Huh? Oh, yea. Sure. TENMYOUJI Huh. And yours.. .. Phi, right? Let me have a look. Hmph. I thought so. SIGMA What? TENMYOUJI Quark, you and Dio show them your bracelets. SIGMA They both say "pair" and have a number 3. Just like Phi and I. .. No, wait, the color's different. Ours are red... .. And yours are blue. TENMYOUJI Sharp eye there. SIGMA What about yours, uh, sir? ..Tenmyouji, right? TENMYOUJI Hn. Show him yours, too, ladies. SIGMA Oh.. Red, blue, and.. green? They're different. You've all got 3s, but your bracelets say "SOLO". TENMYOUJI Right. You figure it out, then? SIGMA Figure what out? PHI Sigma and I are the red pair. Dio and Quark are the blue pair. Each pair got put in the same elevator. But Tenmyouji, Alice, and Luna were all solos, so.. SIGMA .. So they got put in their own seperate elevators. TENMYOUJI Hm. SIGMA Ok, that's great and all, but.. What do "PAIR" and "SOLO" mean? TENMYOUJI Don't got the foggiest idea. SIGMA Well, that's helpful. LUNA I don't know why we're split up like this either. QUARK Does anybody know what the "3" means? DIO Maybe it has something to do with the game. SIGMA Game? Oh, yeah.. ZERO flashback Yes yes yes! And I'm calling it.. The NONARY GAAAAAAAME! AMBIDEX EDITIOOOOOOON! SIGMA You guys saw him too, right? That.. rabbit.. thing? LUNA Yes. In the elevator... QUARK He said something about the elevator falling. ... ... NARRATIVE The others explained that they'd after escaped from their own "elevators", they'd gone around the warehouse-y room we were in and tested the doors. Unfortunately, it turned out that they were all shut tight, and impossible to open. They had been about to try and open this door - the one with a nine on it - when Phi and I appeared. SIGMA So.. any chance this one'll open? DIO You think we'd have done it last if there was? SIGMA There's some sort of.. I dunno, machine, off to the left here, but... DIO Well, give it a shot why don't you? SIGMA Hm. Looks like force probably isn't going to work either. Damn... Well, I didn't really think that'd work anyway. DIO I don't think you'll be able to force that door with anything short of a tank. SIGMA All right, well.. How about those three doors over there? QUARK I told you already. Each one's got a digital lock on it. We can't pick the lock, and we can't break down the door. SIGMA You sure about that? QUARK Why would I lie? SIGMA Hmph. Okay, are there any other ways out? LUNA No, unfortunately. Not that we've found, anyway. SIGMA Great... ALICE Well, there is one thing I'm a little curious about. SIGMA And that is? ALICE I was the first to escape. That means I know who was in which elevator. I watched all of you come out, after all. Well.. I was in the one third from the right. Tenmyouji was the second out. Your elevator was second from the left, I think? TENMYOUJI Good memory. Yeah, that's where I was. ALICE Third was Luna. You climbed out of the rightmost elevator, didn't you? LUNA Yes. That's the one. ALICE Dio and Quark were next. You came out of the elevator next to Luna's. Right? DIO Yeah, we did. ALICE And finally.. The two of you were trapped in-- PHI The third elevator from the left. SIGMA Wait, then.. ALICE Yes. No one has come out of the leftmost elevator. LUNA Are you.. are you saying there's still someone in there? ALICE I can't say for certain, but it does seem strange. Maybe we should go take a look? SIGMA Yea, good idea! run run run run BANG BANG SIGMA Hey! Anybody in there? If you can hear me, just.. I don't know, make some noise! BANG BANG BANG ... ... DIO Nothing.. QUARK Hey, look at this.. SIGMA "Ambidex".. "Room"..? LUNA Is that some kind of card reader? Maybe it.. unlocks it or.. something... QUARK There's one next to each door... DIO What do you think "Ambidex Room" is supposed to mean? ALICE Well, it says it on all six of the elevators... LUNA Maybe it has something to do with the game that Zero was talking about? QUARK Oh, the "Nonary Game, Ambidex Edition"? SIGMA Maybe, maybe not. I don't think we really need to worry about that right now, though. We should be figuring out what's inside this thing. Anybody got a key card? TENMYOUJI Naw. I got nothing, not even dirt. DIO So, they've taken everything we were carrying? Wonderful. NARRATIVE The rest of us dug through our pockets as well, but it was pretty obvious that Dio was right. My own were completely empty -- there wasn't even any lint in the creases. DIO Maybe there's no one in there. SIGMA No! There is. There's gotta be.. DIO And what makes you so sure? SIGMA Huh? Uh.. wel.. Um.. ... ... crashing noise LUNA What's that?! QUARK Look! It's opening! There was someone in there! figure flies out of the hatch ! SIGMA What the.. who the hell..? ALICE Clover! SIGMA Clover? ALICE Are you okay?! Clover! Wake up! CLOVER ... ... (What's going on here? Do these two know each other?) ALICE What did you do to her!? MASKED MAN Nothing. She was like that when I woke up. I really wouldn't worry, though. She should be all right. Her breathing is steady. I believe she's only sleeping. TENMYOUJI Then she hasn't woken up since they kidnapped her. MASKED MAN Ah.. kidnapped? Begging your pardon, but.. I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. .. Where are we? And.. who are you? SIGMA Whoa, hold on. How about you tell us who you are first. You leap out of that box dressed like some kinda robot, carrying an unconscious girl, and we've only got your word that you didn't make her that way. I think you owe us an explanation, pal! MASKED MAN I'm... Hm. Who am I? SIGMA Wh- What? MASKED MAN I don't remember. I don't remember.. anything. I have no idea where I am, who I am, or even what day it is. If you happen to know any of those things, I would very much appreciate it if you shared that information. Not knowing one's identity is.. vexing. ... ... DIO Oh, yea, very original: the amnesiac routine! Please. How are we supposed to take you seriously when you're wearing this.. this.. this robot suit! We can't even see your face! Are you going to tell us someone forced you into that thing? MASKED MAN I assume so? It seems the most reasonable explanation. When I woke up, I was wearing this.. armor, I suppose you could call it? TENMYOUJI You look pretty calm for a man who doesn't know who he is. MASKED MAN "Look"? That's an odd choice of words. I'm wearing a mask. How would you know how I "look"? TENMYOUJI Ah.. You know what I meant, ya smartass. CLOVER Uhh... ALICE Oh! She's waking up! Clover! Are you okay? Come on, talk to me! CLOVER ... ... ... ... Al.. ice.. Where.. are we..? NARRATIVE Once Clover had woken up, Alice explained everything we knew so far. She listened silently until Alice mentioned Zero and the Nonary Game, and then her eyes went wide.. CLOVER What..? No.. no, that's can't.. NARRATIVE The blood drained from her face, and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. What did she know? As Alice continued to console CLover, the rest of us turned to questioning the mysterious man in the mask. TENMYOUJI When did you lose your memory? MASKED MAN When? That's a difficult question.. I suppose.. when I was born? I don't remember anything of my life. Assuming I had one.. NARRATIVE We asked everything we could think of -- birth date, address, occupation, family, childhood.. But all he did was shake his head. LUNA I think he has generalized amnesia. It's a type of memory loss. People affected by it retain knowledge like.. language, social common sense, memorized facts, abilities they've learned.. .. But anything that has to do with, um, themseles, is just.. lost. It's a very serious condition. Most research suggests that it's mainly psychological, not physiological, but in very rare instances it has been shown to result from severe head trauma. SIGMA Do you have any idea what might have caused it? MASKED MAN Hmm... Maybe I had a really bad breakup? Ha ha ha.. NARRATIVE He was making a laughing sort of noise.. but his expression didn't change. With the mask on, there was no way we could tell if he was smiling or not, but his voice sure didn't make it sound like he was. DIO Bullshit! This guy's obviously full of it! Don't tell me you're actually buying this?! NARRATIVE Dio's outburst was greeted with an awkward silence. It wasn't that we trusted the robot man, per se.. Only that it seemed clear he was in the same boat we were. There was a bracelet on his wrist too. Close inspection revealed that his armor fit around the bracelet -- in other words, the bracelet was attached to his arm like ours, and not simply part of his suit. And, just like ours, his had a 3 on it. It said "PAIR" below the 3, and all the text was bright green. Clover's bracelet was exactly the same. How long had we been there? I still hadn't entirely shaken the last traces of sleep out of my head, and my brain felt foggy and cluttered. Had I been asleep for hours? Days? There was no way to know. They'd taken my favorite watch when they grabbed me and given me the bracelet instead, and unless it happened to be 3:00 right now, it wasn't going to be very useful for telling time. With no windows in the warehouse, it was impossible to even guess what time of day -- or night -- it was. Time could have stopped, and we wouldn't have had the first idea. SIGMA to open the purple door Damnit! No dice.. This thing won't open. QUARK Didn't I tell you that? SIGMA Yeah, well, I just thought.. LUNA There's a box here. Maybe it's some sort of locking thing, like the ones next to the elevators? I don't think it's a card reader, though.. SIGMA Huh. QUARK Hey.. what do you think that is? SIGMA What? QUARK That graffiti over there. See? On the wall. LUNA Oh, yes, that.. I was wondering what that was. "Two milk men go comedy." I'm.. not sure what that's supposed to mean. SIGMA Maybe it's saying that a pair of milkmen decided to become comedians? Still just kinda sounds like nonsense, though.. TENMYOUJI I think it's somebody's way of saying hello. SIGMA Uh.. what? TENMYOUJI You heard me. SIGMA Yeah, I did, I just.. WHat the hell was that supposed to mean? PHI It's an anagram. SIGMA An Anna-Gram? PHI Yeah, they tried a lot of names before they worked it down to "tele". C'mon, seriously? You've never heard of an anagram? LUNA It's a kind of, um, wordplay where you move the letters around to create something else. Right? PHI Exactly.. Watch. NARRATIVE With the tip of her boot, Phi spelled out two sentences in the dust on the floor. "TWO MILKMEN GO COMEDY!" "WELCOME TO MY KINGDOM!" SIGMA Oh.. okay. If you switch it around.. yeah, that makes sense. Huh.. TENMYOUJI Mm. Exactly. Seems like somebody was expecting us, doesn't it? SIGMA Yeah, but.. ... ... ... Where are they? Pretty rude to invite somebody over and not even offer them a drink. PHI True. But you're assuming that Zero isn't one of us. SIGMA Wh.. What?! ZERO He he he... Eee he he he he he he he.. Eee he he he he he he he he he he.. ALICE Huh? DIO Look! Over there! ZERO screen Shame on you, Phido! You can't say what I'm about to say before I say it. SIGMA Zero.. ZERO I've got a plan, you know. I can't just tell you everything at once. Athough things are starting to get exciting.. Eee he he he.. DIO Where are you, you littel bastard!? Too scared to come out and face me like a man?! ZERO Are you an idiot? I'm a rabbit. You really think a talking rabbit is a real thing? DIO Of course I don't. You're some kind of CG rabbit or something, probably. That's not what I meant, though! ZERO Oooh, you meant you want to see the person who's controlling me? I guess God touched this one a little too hard. DIO What?! ZERO Weren't you listening to Phido? She's clever, you know? SIGMA Wait.. Then.. you're saying.. Zero is one of us? ZERO Well, yes, I guess that's one way to put it. QUARK Are you really sure? You're responding to our questions and stuff right now. That means you're not just, like, a video somebody made. Wouldn't that mean that Zero would have to be controlling you and sending you answers right now? Because it doesn't look like anyone's doing that.. ZERO Well of course they aren't. I'm an AI. SIGMA What?! ZERO I'm an artifical intelligence powered by a quantum computer. Zero is the one who built me, of course. So I guess that makes one of you my parent! Now, are you a mommy or a daddy..? Ah ah ah! That would be telling! He he he... ... ... Now, with that said, I guess I should probably tell you that I'm not the one who brought you here. I mean, obviously. I don't even have a body.. I'm just the.. facilitator for this facility. I just do what I'm told to do! LUNA And what do you.. facilitate? ZERO Didn't I say? The game, of course! SIGMA Oh, the.. Nonary Game, Ambidex Edition..? ZERO Correct! It's my job to make sure it runs smoooooothly. CLOVER No... It's supposed to be over... (There she goes again.. she knows something.) QUARK So.. what is the "Nonary Game"? MASKED MAN "Nonary" refers to a base-9 numeral system, but can also mean something that is, in some way, related to the number nine. "Nona" can be used a prefix as well, where it means essentially the same thing. Therefore it stands to reason that the "Nonary Game" is a game that deals with the number nine in some way. ZERO Exactly. nine is a very, very, important number in this game. After all, nine is your goal! ALICE Goal? ZERO Yes, goal! You see that door in front of you? That's your door. If you can open the door with a nine on it.. you can escape. LUNA Wh-What do we have to do to open it? ZERO Yes yes yes. Let me explain. Look at your left wrists. You see the bracelet? Of course you do. Now tell me Phido, what number is on yours? PHI A 3. ZERO What about the rest of you? PHI They're all the same. We've all got 3s. ZERO Exactly. I'm going to call those numbers "Bracelet Points"! If you're feeling lazy, you can just call them "BP". Only the peolpe who can get their number to 9 or more will be able to open the door with the nine on it and escape. See the box on the wall? That's how you'll get out. Anyone with greater-than-or-equal-to 9 BP can pull that lever and the door will open. HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWVEER! There are three rules you carrot forget! One! The number nine door will only stay open for nine seconds! When your time is up, it'll close automatically! So be careful. Two! The number nine door only opens once. Once that happens, it's allll over. It'll close for good after 9 seconds, so if you're not careful you could get stuck. Three! Now, maybe some of you are thinking. You're thinking, "Oh ho.. If my BP is too low, then I'll just have someone with enough BP open the door.. and I'll just slip through when it's open..." Well that's not gonna lapin. If you think you can be sneaky, well.. SIGMA Well what? ZERO Oh.. I, um, really shouldn't say that yet. All you need to know is that anybunny who tries to sneak out gets hit with a biiiig penalty. DIO And what the hell does that mean!? ZERO Down in front! I'll tell you later! LUNA Um... ZERO Yeeeeeees? LUNA Why did you start making.. rabbit.. puns? ZERO Um.. well.. um.. 'cause I felt like it? I thought it might make me sound cute... ... ... TENMYOUJI Never mind that. You still haven't told us what we need to know most. How do we got BP? ZERO Oh, that's easy! Just use the Ambidex Room. If you like abbreviations, you can always call it the AB Room instead. QUARK You mean those, uh.. Elevators? ZERO Gold star! ALCIE So how do we go about using them? ZERO How else do you use a room? You go in. SIGMA You mean through those hatches? ZERO N. I had a hutch you might try that, so I closed those up tight while you were talking. So don't be hatching any hatch plans, you understand? I live in the master computer. That means all the electronic doors in this whooooole warren are under my control. DIO How do we get in, then? We tried the doors on the front. They're all locked. ZERO There's a card reader next to each one, isn't there? All you've got to do is slide a card through, and there you go. MASKED MAN Where do we find those key cards? TENMYOUJI Well, we don't got 'em, and there weren't any in the warehouse.. ZERO Oh, well, no, of course there wouldn't be any there. LUNA Then where are they? ZERO I think you'll find what you're looking for behind the Chromatic Doors! SIGMA Chromatic Doors? ZERO Right hare! You see the three pretty doors just to your right? QUARK Huh? Hold on.. I thought those doors were locked. ZERO Quirk. QUARK What? ZERO You see those buttons on the sides of your watch? Can you press them at the same time? QUARK Why? ZERO To make little boys ask questions. Just press them, please. In fact, why doesn't everybunny press their buttons as well! SIGMA Hey.. what's this number? ZERO The two digits on the left show hours, and the two on the right show minutes. ALICE Does that mean it's 12:10 in the morning? ZERO No. QUARK Oh! The numbers are going down.. MASKED MAN It's gone from 10 minutes to 9. LUNA So... that would mean this must be counting down to something, right? ZERO Correct. I don't even need to explain the rest, do I? TENMYOUJI I'm guessing this is the time until the Chromatic Doors unlock? ZERO Ding ding ding ding! Very imprissev, Tenmyoldy! TENMYOUJI Hmph. ZERO All right! Lettuce review what we've learned; in 9 minutes the Chromatic Doors will open automatically. However! Just like the number nine door, they won't stay open forever. You have 5 minutes. Once your time is up, the doors will close no matter what, so I hop you've gone through by then! That's just the primary door... ALICE ... What? ZERO Each door in this warren has a twin! Isn't that nice? The Chromatic Doors aren't any different. There's one door on this side.. One door on the other side. Unfortunately, the secondary Chromatic Door on the other side is locked too. TENMYOUJI Couldn't make it easy for us, could you? ZERO Of course you'll all have to split up. QUARK Split up? ZERO Yep! Cleaver, can you tell me what the three primary colours are? CLOVER Wh-why are you asking me? ZERO Because you're the only person who hasn't talked to me. I try to communicate with as many people as I can. It helps me improve, you see. I'm trying to get into the rabbit of doing it all the time. Now, answer my questions. Do you know what the three primary colors are? Well? CLOVER Y-You mean red, green, and blue? You're supposed to be able to make any color by mixing them, right? ZERO So which colors would you mix to get magenta? CLOVER Red and blue... ZERO How about yellow? CLOVER Green and red. ZERO What if you wanted cyan? CLOVER Blue and green. ZERO That's right. Now take another look at the nice bracelets you're all wearing. Notice how they come in three vibrant colors? PHI Yeah, yeah. We get it already. The red and blue bracelets can open the secondary magenta door together. Green and red can open the yellow one.. And blue and green can open the cyan door. I miss anything? ZERO Wonderful! I think you rabb-it. There is one other little thing, though. TENMYOUJI Your' etalking about what happens if you've got two of the same color, right? ZERO Yep. What do you think happens? TENMYOUJI How the hell would I know? ZERO If you want to open a door but all you've got is one color, then you can use that to open a door with the complementary color to the one you've got. TENMYOUJI Hm.. I see. So if you've got red and red, then you can open the cyan door. Blue and blue can open the yellow door. ..And green and green can open the magenta door. ZERO Right again! Looks like your brain hasn't rotted away yet, Tenmyoldy! TENMYOUJI Just what the hell's that supposed to mean? ZERO It means exactly what it says! I was trying to complement you, you know. TENMYOUJI ... ZERO Ah well. Let's continue, shall we? There are two types of bracelets, pairs and solos. That means there's two types of players too! Pairs and solos. In this game, the two members of a pair are considered to be a single entity, which means they share the saaame destiny. Isn't that a good deal? I mean, you get two for the price of one! Unfortunately, it also means they carrot split up. Aww.. Both members of a pair have to go through the same Chromatic Door. Solos don't have any restrictions like that, though. I mean, why would they? They're forever alone. But that means that they can go whereeeever they want! Yaaay! Now, let's take another look at all of your bracelets. We'll start with you, Siggy. What color is your bracelet? SIGMA Red. ZERO Are you a pair, or a solo? SIGMA I'm a pair. ZERO Phido is next! Tell us about your bracelet. PHI It's just like Sigma's. Red and a pair. ZERO What about you, Alas? ALICE It's red, and I'm a solo. ZERO B.O.? Quirk? DIO Blue, pair. QUARK Yeah, mine's the same. ZERO Moony! Clever! Tenmyoldy! All at once! LUNA I'm a blue solo. CLOVER I'm a .. green pair. TENMYOUJI Green solo. ZERO And finally.. .. Um, who are you? MASKED MAN I'm... uh... Let's see... I suppose you can call me.. K.. DIO I knew it! You were just lying about that amnesia crap! K I'm not lying. This was just a.. how do I put it.. a flash of insight, I suppose. I saw the letter K.. DIO So? What does "K" have to do with anything? K I wish I knew. Sadly, I have no idea. Does it mean anything to you? DIO .. Asshole. ALICE Come on now boys, you can fight later. Now, ah.. K... Can I call you that? K Yes. ALICE I'm guessing your bracelet is the same as Clover's. K That's right. It says "pair".. And the text is green. ZERO Okay! I'm glad we got all that bracelet business out of the way! Now, lettuce return to the subject at hand.. How do you open the secondary door? So, Siggy, what would you do to get through the magenta door? SIGMA Well, Phi and I can't split up since we're part of the same pair. If we're red then.. I guess we should pair up with Luna, right? Since she's a blue solo. QUARK Or you could work with Mr. Dio and me. We're blue too.. ZERO Whooops! Oh celerysticks, I forgot to tell you. You have to have exactly three people in your group to open the secondary door. That means you can't have two people, or four people, or, well, anything other than three really. SIGMA Then our only choice is to pair up with Luna. ZERO Pretty much. Aaaand I guess I should probably tell you that the secondary door won't open until the primary door closes. It's made that way to keep out cheaters. We didn't want a fourth or fifth person just running in at the last minute like "AAAAAAAAH WAIT FOR ME" when the right people open the door. But if the primary door closes first, then that's impossible! You see? It all makes sense. ... ... Anywho.. Might have run a hare too long in my explanation, but now I'm aaaaalll done. Any questions? NARRATIVE I took a moment to go everything we'd learned so far. WHat do I have to do to escape? Open the number nine door. How do I open the number nine door? I have to get 9 or more Bracelet Points, also known as "BP". How do I get more BP? I don't have the whole anser to that one yet, but it looks like I have to head into the "Ambidex Room" to get it. How do I get into the Ambidex Room? I'll need a key card for that. Where is the key card? Zero said it's on the other side of the Chromatic Door. What do I do to open the primary CD? Nothing, actually. Apparently it just opens on its own after a certain amount of time. Pressing the buttons on both sides of the bracelet simoultaneously shows how much time is remaining. How do I get through the secondary door? For starters, there's a limit to how many people can go in. Specifically, three people. If combining the colors on the bracelets of those three people gives you the same color as the door, then the door will open. If everyone has the same color, then you can open doors with that color's complementary color. Matching: Red+Blue = Magenta Green+Red = Yellow Blue+Green = Cyan Complementary: Red+Red = Cyan Blue+Blue = Yellow Green+Green = Magenta ZERO Good? Excellent. It looks like none of you have any questions. Yay. SIGMA Huh? No, wait! We have questions! Of course we have questions! What's the point of this game?! Why did you take us?! Where are we?! And-- and who the hell is the real Zero!? Chromatic Doors open] ANNOUNCER Chromatic Doors have opened. Five minutes remain until Chromatic Doors close. ZERO Oohhhhh, so sorry guys, but it looks like your time's up. You'd better hop to it and get those secondary doors open. DIO Fuck that! We aren't gonna open shit! You can take your Lame-ary Game and shove it up your ass! If you think we're just gonna swallow your psychotic crap and play along, you've got another think coming, you smart-ass little rodent! ZERO ... I'm a rabbit.. DIO Shut up! ZERO Well, shoot.. I thought you might say that. Unfortunately, you have no choice but to follow the rules. K Why's that? ZERO When the time comes, those three doors will automatically close. If anyone is left outside after they close, they'll.. QUARK They'll what? ZERO They'll be penalized. DIO You keep saying that! What the hell is this "penalty" anyway? ZERO Well... Death. looks shocked ZERO Your bracelets contain two drugs. The first is an anaesthetic called Soporil Beta. The other is a muscle relaxant called tubocurarine. Your bracelet also has a bunch of needles on the inside. If you break the rules, those needles hop out and inject you. First is the Soporil, which puts you to sleep. Nine minutes later, the tubocurarine is injected, numbing your respiratory muscles. I guess you could say it'll really take your breath away! You should know that the Soporil is only there out of the kindness of Zero's heart. Oh, and I mean the real Zero, not me. Zero just doesn't want to see anybunny suffer! Isn't that just soooo compassionate? If I had a heart, it'd be melting right now. Anyway, all it means is that you'll die pretty painlessly, so hey, there's nothing to worry about really. Of course, none of that will happen if you just follow the rules... ANNOUNCER Three minutes remain until Chromatic Doors close. ZERO Well then, looks it's time for me to hop on out of here. Good luck, guys! See you all later! Have a nice trap! ... ... NARRATIVE So there was poison in the bracelet.. It seemed a little hard to believe, but it wasn't like I had anything other than a computer-generated rabbit's say either way. What were we going to do? There was a lot to think about.. But we didn't have very much time. ... ... LUNA What are we waiting for? We need to go! We need to get through these other doors! QUARK But.. how do we figure out which door to go through? PHI You still don't get it? Fine. Just pay attention. We don't have much time. Zero's explanation was pretty confusing, so let me put it in small words for you. Option A. Sigma and I pair up with Luna. Our red and her blue can open the magenta door. That would mean Clover and K would go with Alice. Their green goes with her red to make yellow. That just leaves Dio and Quark as the blue pair, and Tenmyouji as the green solo. The only door they can open is the cyan one. Got it? Option B. Sigma and I go with Tenmyouji, so we can use red and green to make yellow for that door. That means Clover and K pair up with Luna to open the cyan door. This leaves Dio and Quark with Alice, and together they can open up the magenta door. And finally... Option C would be where we pair up with like colors to open complementary-coloured doors. That means Sigma, Alice, and I go through the cyan door.. Clover, K, and Tenmyouji go through the magenta door.. And Dio, Quark, and Luna go through the yellow door. Problem is, which do we choose? LUNA Please Sigma, choose something! SIGMA What? W-Wait, what?! Why me..? LUNA If you don't want to, then maybe Alice or Clover can choose. Or Tenmyouji or Dio or.. anyone! Once one person chooses, everyone else's decisions will be made for them. But please, you have to hurry! We're almost out of time! ANNOUNCER One minute remains until Chromatic Doors close. SIGMA All right, all right! I'll pick! NARRATIVE Nobody seemed upset, but they probably knew as well as I did that we don't have time for bickering. I took a deep breath and spoke. SIGMA Okay. Phi and I will.. (CHOICE POINT)